


A road trip with two people can only mean one of two things

by UpDownLeftGone



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, Near Future, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpDownLeftGone/pseuds/UpDownLeftGone
Summary: Yu's just got his first car and the whole IT is looking forward to the road trip back to Tokyo. Sucks only Yosuke can actually make the trip, and we all know what happens when you go on a road trip with one other person - you either come out of it hating their guts, or madly in love.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	A road trip with two people can only mean one of two things

**Author's Note:**

> fair warning: i will finish this eventually, swear it, what i can't swear is that it'll be soon so if you can't handle unfinished fics just give it a few months lol, you guys know me.

The conversation went something like: “Hey, Yu, congratulations on getting your license. Want the old SUV?”

“Sure.” 

And Dojima tossed him the keys, right in front of the Investigation Team, which probably wasn’t the best idea because Teddie immediately screamed “ROADTRIP!” and everyone agreed. They’d have to get the car to Yu’s apartment somehow, after all, he had taken the train from Tokyo to Inaba over summer break.

He finally got his license, but didn’t have a car, that and the fact that the Dojimas had just gotten a new shinier car led to the aforementioned conversation. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Should I trust all you kids to drive it back? You’re not going to crash it are you?” Dojima questioned.

“Hey! Me and Yukiko have had our license for almost a year now!” Chie put her hands on her hips, nodding to her girlfriend. 

Yukiko laughed. “You did total your first car though, Chie.”

“That pole was totally in a bad spot! Plus that was last year, I drive to my classes all the time now.” 

“Man, count me out if Chie’s driving.” 

“Yosuke!” Chie practically growled at him. “I drive you like, everywhere these days! And you have your license! You can just drive yourself if you hate it that much.”

“Heyy now, you can still drive me to school. I’m just sayin’ a roadtrip with your driving for more than one hour might be… ya know… less than safe.” 

“I SWEA-”

“-there’s no need to fight, Narukami has his license, and it is his car, he can choose who drives and who doesn’t. I think a road trip is a great idea, I have to be back to Tokyo by the end of break as well,” Naoto piped in. 

“Yeah but, it ain’t like we can all drive, Rise and Naoto and I haven’t even touched a car,” Kanji muttered.

“Snack duty!” Rise called. “We need a snack person, a navigation person, oh and a DJ and oooh I can pick out some fun spots we can stop at along the way! We can do more than just drive!” 

“So, it sounds like a plan then,” Yukiko smiled. “I haven’t had time to myself since I started working at the Inn, and I do need a break.” 

Yu could only agree to it. Maybe it would be fun, after all. 

Sadly, as summer break progressed the dream seemed farther and farther away. Yukiko couldn’t get the time off, and Chie promised to stay and help since the Inn was getting far more attention due to a TV special on Inaba. Same with Kanji’s textile shop. The police department in Shibuya needed Naoto back sooner than expected, the film industry needed Rise back for a press conference, and Teddie just up and flaked out at the last second. 

At least Yosuke couldn’t come up with an excuse. So, that left Yu and Yosuke, on the long drive back, just the two of them. 

Of course the rest of the team did feel bad, so they ended up with a bag of snacks from Chie, a marked up map from Naoto - who drew the route - and Rise - who drew Xs on a few neat spots they could stop at, some road trip activity books from Yukiko, and a newly knit blanket from Kanji, all for the trip. 

Teddie waved them goodbye when Yu went to pick up Yosuke. Considering his track record, that was good enough. 

“Let’s go," Yosuke clambered into the passenger seat with a half yawn. “Man, it’s weird sitting up front in this thing, normally you’re the one up here.”

“It’s even more strange driving it.” Yu repositioned his hands on the steering wheel, ready to pull out onto the main road. “The car I took my test in was much smaller.” 

“Yeah, Dojima had the biggest car in town. You’re gonna stick out like a sore thumb driving this around Tokyo.”

“That’s fine.”

“Right, speaking of Tokyo…” Yosuke pulled out his phone, typed in the city center, and slapped it on the middle console. 

“Didn’t Naoto mark a route on the map?” Yu asked, pointing to the bag in the back seat.

“Yeah but, ugh, maps are hard,” Yosuke yawned. “Plus I wanna nap, the phone can take over the navigator job for now.” 

“We should still take a look at it, just for the sightseeing places. I think the team is expecting some photos.” 

“Yeah, we can do that later, man, it’s already a 6 hour drive.” 

Yu’s smile turned to a frown. “Right.” 

“Oh, here, I did make a playlist. Where’s the AUX?” Yosuke picked up his phone again, navigating apps. 

“The what?”

“The AUX cord, dude.” Now Yosuke was digging around, searching for anything resembling an AUX cord. 

“I don’t think I have one,” Yu shrugged.

Yosuke groaned. “Man, I spent hours on this playlist. Bluetooth?”

Yu shook his head. “This car is too old for that.” 

“Guess the radio’ll have to do,” Yosuke mumbled, changing the station. “Just wake me up if something interesting happens.”

Yu rolled his eyes, already regretting the long journey ahead. Yosuke was great for many reasons, but his grandiose road trip enthusiasm apparently wasn’t one of them. 

Yosuke’s phone pointed him in the right direction as the other man was passed out in the seat next to Yu, the radio blaring a song he didn’t recognize. Many of the hills and the trees all looked the same until they reached the coast, a long expanse of blue on one side, steep hills on the other. 

Yu decided that was a good time to wake Yosuke up.

“Yosuke,” he nudged Yosuke’s shoulder and he stirred in his sleep. “Yosuke, I can see the ocean.”

“The wh- oh,” Yosuke stretched. “That’s uh, that’s kinda cool. Don’t get to see that on the train.” 

Yosuke sounded uninterested, but he didn’t go back to his nap, his still-sleepy eyes glued to the long expanse of blue. Yu wished he could take in the scene more, but the road ahead was sadly more important. 

“How long has it been anyways?” Yosuke asked.

“Only about an hour, we follow the coast up for a few miles if I remember the map correctly.” 

“Nice.” 

“Unless you want to check the map and stop at one of Rise’s expertly picked locations.”

Yosuke snorted. “I guess that’s better than sitting in the car, my legs are pretty much asleep.” He dug through the bag, coming across a folded up piece of paper.

He unfolded it, revealing a penned-in blue route and plenty of red X’s. 

“Uh, where are we again?”

“Just reached the coast.”

“Yeah, uhhh.” He scanned the map. “We already missed a few places but it looks like there’s one ahead a little. Like. It’s just on the side of the road. One second lemme look it up.” 

Yosuke took his phone again, put in what it said on the map, and up popped a little Italian restaurant. 

“An Italian restaurant? Really, Rise?” Yosuke murmured. 

“I think she mentioned liking pasta once,” Yu said.

Yosuke sighed. “I guess food sounds nice. She also marked some dessert place. Looks like they have good yaki manju.” He scrolled through his phone. 

“Guess we’ll have to check it out,” Yu smiled, finally glad to have a destination in mind other than Tokyo. 

The drive only took a few minutes before they reached a small cluster of buildings, parking the car they entered the small Italian restaurant overlooking the ocean. 

“Ulgh, man, this place is fancy. I feel underdressed,” Yosuke said after they were seated, looking at a menu. 

“It’s fine, Yosuke.”

Yu thought the food was surprisingly good for a random restaurant on the side of the road. Yosuke disagreed, pushing the pasta around the dish. 

“I dunno man, pasta isn't really my thing.”

“You’re a really picky eater, Yosuke.” Yu finished his plate.

“I know, I know. Want some?” Yosuke pushed his plate over to his friend, who refused. 

“Just leave it.”

The waitress looked slightly disappointed at the uneaten dish, but they still paid their bill in full. 

The small pastry shop was right across the way, an old sign plastered up over the door, the smell of freshly baked sweet bread wafted out among the small cluster of mostly for-lease buildings.

It was packed. Bodies lined the wall as the people behind the counter scrambled. 

They walked up to the counter, the cashier’s smile resembled that of a panicked closeted schizophrenic with spiders crawling all over them, and was told the wait would be over 30 minutes. 

And so, they left, empty handed but not broken spirited. 

Yu started laughing as soon as they sat down in the car, Yosuke couldn’t help but join in. 

“Great picks, Rise,” Yu smiled, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, really. I bet that yaki manju would’ve been great though.” Yosuke sighed, digging into the snacks bag.

“Probably, if people are willing to wait that long for it. Those poor employees.” 

Yosuke smirked. “I understand their pain.”

They both laughed again. 

Yosuke eventually found a bag of chips as Yu went back on the road. 

“Any other places Rise marked? Preferably not food-based.” 

Yosuke took the map back out, eating chips with one hand and searching the map with the other. “Uh, there’s a lookout up ahead. Not sure what’s so interesting about that though, it’s just an ocean.”

Yu rolled his eyes. “We’ll stop there.” 

Eventually, there was a clearing in the trees, and Yu pulled into a makeshift parking place, likely created by the many tourists before them. 

An old wooden fence blocked them off from the sheer cliff to the sandy beach. To Yosuke, it was like the overlook met the Samegawa. To Yu, it was an adventure. 

“Ok, partner, this is kind of cool,” Yosuke lent against the fence, taking in the salty smell of the ocean and the fresh, humid, evening breeze. 

“It is. And I think I found a path.” Yosuke looked over to find Yu holding back some branches in the trees, revealing an unkept pathway.

“Dude, it’s getting kinda late don’t you think? We shouldn’t be messing around,” Yosuke shook his head. 

Yu looked disappointed. “I hate hearing that from you. It’s supposed to be a road trip. We can still get to Tokyo by midnight.” 

“Man, midnight’s so late though. Where in the world am I gonna find a hotel?” 

“Hotel? Who ever said anything about a hotel?” Yu asked. “You can stay at my apartment.” 

Yosuke’s heart did a small leap at that, and Yu didn’t miss the surprise on his face, using the opportunity to slip behind the trees. 

“Partner! Wait up!” Yosuke followed him. 

The path was quaint and shaded and mostly downhill. It was so narrow they had to walk in a straight line, obviously no one had been back there in a long while. Branches flung back from Yu, Yosuke ducking to move out of the way just in time. Well, most of the time at least.

Yosuke yelped as a branch he didn’t see flug back and swaped him right in the forehead. At this, Yu looked back, but he seemed fine, just a little surprised. 

“Dude I think we should turn back. This isn’t worth it!” Yosuke wined.

But Yu didn’t respond, he just kept walking. 

Pretty soon after, there were the sounds of waves and light peeking through the trees as Yu pushed the last branch aside, revealing the beach they had been looking at from above. 

“See? Worth it,” Yu said, already removing his shoes. 

“Partner, I dunno…”

“I can’t believe I have to be the one to tell  _ you  _ this, Yosuke, but have some fun.” If the disappointment in his voice was palpable, it was masked by the fact he already had his shoes off, rolling his blue jeans up as far as they could go. “Besides, you already have shorts and flip flops on.” 

“They’re not flip flops, they’re sandals,” Yosuke muttered, reluctantly slipping them off. 

Yu didn’t hear him though, he was already halfway to the water. 

“Dude!” Yosuke ran after him, but stopped halfway there as Yu turned around, flinching against a small wave. He didn’t remember the last time he saw his partner smile like that, the beginnings of a sunset back dropping a magnificent moment.

Against his wishes, his attitude had changed. Yosuke was suddenly glad they were there, even if he could feel the blood in his face rushing to his cheeks. 

Slowly, he made his way into the water. “Ulgh, it’s cold!” 

“Oh is it?” Yu quickly bent down, cupping some water, and throwing it at Yosuke. 

“Hey!” He may have sounded annoyed, but the smile on his face and the laughter as he splashed some water in Yu’s direction betrayed his attempt at upholding his earlier irritation. 

“My shirt!”

“mY sHiRt,” Yosuke teased back before running from the splatter of ocean water Yu had thrown his way. 

Sadly, Yosuke underestimated the weight of the water under him, tripping and falling directly into a wave. 

Yu stood there, doubled over in laughter while Yosuke hoisted himself up, took a running start, and tackled Yu, taking him down with him. 

There was a gasp of air as Yu emerged from the water, Yosuke still clinging to him. Both of them were now soaking wet, but they could only laugh for minutes on end. Neither really cared. 

Yosuke didn’t realize he was still attached to his friend until the laughter fit was over, quickly letting go and swimming away, face now beat red from laughter and embarrassment. 

But Yu wasn’t pay attention, instead looking off into the ocean. “Look at the sunset.”

“The what- oh, whoa, have we really been down here for that long!?” Yosuke started making his way back to the shore, they had floated pretty far out from the sandy beach, but was stopped as Yu called back to him. 

“Yosuke, it’s fine. Don’t worry about getting to Tokyo tonight. You’re so panicked about the small things these days… just look, enjoy it.” 

He paused and turned around. The sunset out over the ocean was beautiful. Reds and oranges and pinks filled the sky. They weren’t even that far into the road trip though, and he looked back towards the coast, eyebrows scrunched together. 

But then he looked back at Yu, standing alone in waist deep water, the sunset framing him looking back expectantly, and he made his way back out, standing next to his friend with his arms crossed. 

Yu gave him a mischievous look before putting his arm around his waist and pulling him close. 

“What the-” Yosuke flailed, he felt like he could've passed out the way his heart was jackhammering, but he couldn’t contest as Yu rested his head on Yosuke’s shoulder. His hair smelled like the ocean. 

“If you’re not ok, then you can go back. I’ll join you in a little bit,” Yu practically whispered into his ear.

Yosuke bit his lip, but stayed put. Instead, he slowly sneaked an arm around Yu’s waist, leaning his head against Yu’s, and enjoyed the sunset like that. 

Too soon, the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky filled with stars. 

Yosuke yawned. “I think we should head ba- AH-”

Yu used his strength to his advantage, gripping Yosuke’s waist harder, and pulling him backwards. They both fell back into the ocean, Yosuke coughed and sputtered as his head came above the water again. “DUDE! What was that for!?!”

“You seemed tired. Still tired?”

“Uh, no, but now we’re soaking again.”

Yu shrugged. “We were going to have to dry off anyways.” 

Yosuke slumped in defeat. 

Soon they were back at the car, still soggy and salty from the ocean. 

“Hold on, I have a few bath towels packed in one of these suitcases.” Yu opened the trunk, digging through what he packed. “The dorm has towels, but they’re horrible- ah, here they are.” He hopped back out of the SUV, two towels in hand, and gave one to Yosuke. 

He then disappeared back into the trunk, emerging with two pairs of clothes. “They were in the same suitcase, here.” 

“What- no! I’m not going to take your clothes!” 

“So you have your own?” 

“Well, no-”

“Then take them. I don’t wear these much anyways.” 

Reluctantly, Yosuke took the clothes as Yu started taking his shirt off. “W-whoa there dude.” He couldn’t stop himself. 

“Something wrong?” 

Yosuke quickly backtracked. “Uh, no, no, it’s fine!” and awkwardly laughed it off. 

He didn’t quite catch Yu’s smug smile. 

Soon, they were both changed. Yosuke swapped his white v-neck cargo-short combo for a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Yu, the ever versatile fashion icon, changed right back into a new pair of jeans and grey button up. 

Soon enough, they clambered back into the SUV and continued their journey, leaving the secret beach behind.

~~~

“Hey partner.”

“Hum?”

“Open your mouth.”

“Wha-”

Before he could finish, a small chocolate landed on his tongue, a smug looking Yosuke holding a bag of them looking at him. “Score!” 

Yu finished the sweet and opened his mouth again. Yosuke took the hint, tossing another small chocolate at him. This time, however, it just hit Yu in the forehead. “You should have better aim than that, Yosuke.” 

“Alright, alright, here.” He tossed another one, and it clicked against the window, falling again to the floor. 

“Now you’re just wasting them.” 

“Then here, you take your own.” Yosuke shoved the bag towards Yu.

“I’m driving.”

“Well then what do you want me to-” Yosuke stopped as Yu opened his mouth again. “No, no I am NOT feeding them to you! That’s weird, bro.”

“But it’s just us, and it’s dark out, no one can see in here.”

“You’re just making this weirder!”

“Please, Yosuke, I need chocolate.” Yu deadpanned. 

“Ulgh, jeez bro! F-fine.” Yosuke cautiously reached across, dropping a chocolate into Yu’s mouth, who then couldn’t stop himself from laughing. 

“W-what?”

“The chocolate’s good.”

“Whatever, dude,” Yosuke sighed. 

It took him a few times, but eventually Yosuke got used to feeding Yu chocolates whenever he opened his mouth. 

“Hey Yo- elgh-” Yu started, only to be stopped by a chocolate. 

“Oh, uh- sorry,” Yosuke popped a chocolate into his own mouth, slightly embarrassed. 

Yu swallowed the chocolate, coughing a little, but smiling behind it. “It’s alright, but it’s getting late. I think we should switch drivers.”

Yosuke cautiously slowed down the chewing of his chocolate. “Uhhh… partner, I didn’t really think I would have to drive this trip.”

Yu’s laughter changed into a serious tone with an aggravated sigh. “Yosuke, it’s a 6 hour drive.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“You have your license right?”

“Yeah-”

“Then can you please drive? I only need maybe 2 hours of sleep. It’s dangerous for me to keep driving like this.”

Yosuke looked at the steering wheel and the dark road ahead of him. “I’m sorry, partner, I can’t.” 

Yu gave an annoyed sigh, quickly squeezing his eyes shut and opening them again. “Then we have to find a hotel.”

“What!? But I only packed for one night!” 

“That’s fine, you can keep the clothes I gave you and I have more if you need, besides, we should reach Tokyo early enough for you to catch a train back tomorrow.”

Yosuke sighed, out of options, but he didn’t want to argue. There was no way he was driving the giant SUV, especially when he had been doing everything to avoid driving for the last year period. “Alright lemme just check if Rise has anything marked… yeah, she does, in Nagoyo, which is like a 30 minute drive.” 

“Great.” 

“Yeah.” 

The car went back to silence, the radio turned off, just the hum of the road beneath them. 

It wasn’t awkward, though, like Yosuke expected moments like that to be. His biggest regret of not getting out of the road trip would be the awkward silence. If the whole group was there then silence wouldn’t have been an issue, surely someone would crack a joke and break the tension, but two people could only keep up a conversation so long, especially when one of them was tired enough to argue about it.

Perhaps silence was even better than the alternative.

And so, instead of focusing on starting a new conversation, he looked out at the dark waters below them. If the map was any indicator, they were going to break off from the coast soon. The pitch black waves and constant sounds of rolling water soon to be replaced by tall mountains and small towns until they reached Nagoya. He decided to enjoy it while he could. 

~~~

“This cannot be real.” Yosuke walked through the entrance of the hotel Rise marked, only to be met by girls in maid costumes and pink. Lots of pink. “Can we please find a different hotel??” Yosuke looked over at Yu, who followed him inside. 

“I’m tired, Yosuke, let’s just sleep here. It can’t be that bad.”

“If this turns out like that stupid love hotel again I will never forgive you,” Yosuke grumbled.

Yu pushed past him, going for the check-in desk. “I can live with that.” 

The room wasn’t much better. Pink on every surface possible, even the lamp had little maid-frills on it. And the worst thing, the absolute worst thing, was that there was only one viciously pink bed.

“I’m getting in the shower,” Yu announced before pulling out an actual pair of PJs from his bag and headed towards the bathroom. Yosuke couldn’t refute. 

Instead, he sat down on the bed, pulling the blinds on the window open. Nagoya sat right outside of the hotel's reach, the window looking at the south side of the city. Even far away from the center, he made out the bright lights, suddenly sticking out over the night shadows, like a luring light in the middle of a dark ocean. 

He looked into living there before, it was a midpoint between Inaba and Tokyo, between Yu and everyone else, but had ultimately settled on Inaba. It just made more sense, Yu was just one person, so moving to Tokyo just to be near him would be well, weird at best. Moving to Nagoya, though, he’d just be alone. Really, how often could he handle a multi-hour train trip to Inaba or Tokyo? It was unrealistic, and so he stayed in Inaba. The colleges there were easier to get into anyways. 

The shower squeaked off and moments later Yu emerged in sweatpants and a t-shirt, similar to Yosuke’s own set up. “Enjoying the sights?” he yawned. 

“I guess. Nagoya’s alright.” 

“Mm. I’ve never really been.” 

“We used to take little trips, my parents like the museums and stuff. They have this big Ferris wheel I used to get excited about as a kid. It’s not bad.” 

“Sounds like it.” Yu sat down on the bed, digging in his bag for something. “The shower’s free if you need it.”

“Yeah, I probably should.” Yosuke closed the blinds and stood up, making his way to the bathroom. 

“Have fun.”

“Yeah, yeah.” 

He stayed in long enough to wash the ocean gook off of him, changing back into Yu’s PJs. 

By the time he was done, Yu was already passed out on the bed, Kanji’s blanket sprawled over him. Yosuke sighed, turning off the lights, opening the blinds just a crack, and crawling in next to his best friend.

Yu turned over almost immediately, resting his arm over Yosuke. 

He just sighed and lent into it. They were  _ pretty  _ good friends, sure, and maybe it was a conversation they would have to have one day, yeah, but for now he was going back to being 6 hours away, and Yosuke would get on a train back to Inaba whether he wanted to or not. 

Falling in love on that road trip was something that could only end horribly. 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i know inaba is supposed to be way closer to tokyo but look for this fic i am taking inaba and pushing it somewhere else ok its fine its fictional.


End file.
